My Bothers Keeper
by Lady Sandromeda Snupin
Summary: Yuki is jealous of his brothers carefree life, but not all is as it seems. Ayame has something dark hidden inside his heart, it's always been there. But it's all under conrtol now. It's all been dealt with... for now. Will a series of circumstances spark of a emotional breakdown that's been waiting to happen. Who is Takashi? Can Yuki finaly understand the truth about his brother?
1. Chapter 1

Yuki sighed as he glared at his brother's photo album. Everything about him was just so perfect; he was confident and must have been popular in school. Yuki would even go as far as to say that Ayame was one of the most beautiful people he had ever met. Soon, Yuki was going to be in charge of a lot of things as the new head boy and there was no possible way that he could do the job as well as his big brother had done back in the day. Tohru had told him to do it his own way, that it was the only way that he could be the best he could be. No matter how much you look up to someone, there is no way you can be the same as them or match their achievements. Still…Yuki envied him.

As always in the small Sohma household, Shigure snuck up behind the preoccupied Yuki and was looking over his shoulder to see just what was so interesting.

"Awe, so you do look up to him after all!" Shigure squealed in his loud obnoxious voice. Yuki was completely stunned out of his thoughts and immediately acted as though he was just caught with his hand stuck in the cookie jar.

"Well, I uh…" he sighed before admitting defeat. "Ok. It's just that he's so perfect. Life is just so easy for him. For me it all takes much more effort and for him, there is not a care in the world. Even though he's an out there guy he's so normal." Yuki looed sad, his eyes on the photo of Ayame in his purple leopard skin jacket, as though looking at what he could never be.

Shigure's face turned serious. He sat himself down beside Yuki and put a strong hand on his shoulder. "Everyone has a dark side Yuki; we Sohma's are living examples of that. Ayame is just good at keeping those kinds of things to himself." Yuki looked into Shigure's serious face, surprised. It wasn't often that Shigure gave some relevant advice. That though quickly left his mind, however, when Shigure glomped him and squeezed him tight. "Naw, my little Yuki! You know when it comes to looks you do take after your brother, maybe we should start something naughtier together! I'm sure Ayame wouldn't mind a threesome." He whispered huskily into Yuki's ear. Yuki jerked away, rubbed his hand frantically against his ear to get rid of that tingly feeling.

"You are so gross! Keep your grubby hands to yourself!" he glared before stomping out of the room, intent on going up to his room to study. Shigure sighed, the smile slowly leaving his face. If Yuki had seen the Aaya that he knew maybe he wouldn't be so quick to stereotype him. But then, Shigure also felt at ease. Their relationship _could_ be a lot worse, at least at the moment they stood a chance at improvement, albeit a slim one.

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Hatori sighed, checking his watch for the fifth time in the last two minutes. How bizarre. Aaya was meant to be here by now for his meds and a full body check-up, it was his turn after all. Usually he rocked up half an hour early just so that he could give him some 'company'. More like a headache! For him to be this late was…unusual.

His patients wearing thin, Hatori grasped the phone and dialled Ayame's number. "Where are you?" he whispered, waiting for him to pick up.

"Hello, this is Ayame Sohma!" his voice sang through the phone and into Hatori's ear before he had time to move the phone away. By heavens, next time Aaya needed an operation he was installing a volume dial.

"Ayame, its Hatori. Where are you? You had an appointment with me today, remember? It's your turn for a health check." He stated.

"That was _**today**__**!**_ Well I am **ever** so sorry Tori, but I'm out of town on business. If I had remembered I would have told you in advance. Wasn't my appointment on the 6th? I could have sworn it was only the 1st todays. Funny how time flies!" he giggled on the end of the line. Hatori rubbed his eyes.

"Well, when will you be back? I still need to fit you in somewhere."

"I'm not sure. I come back in a couple of days but I'm quite busy at the moment. It's the tourist season you see! Oh yes, and I also have to do some designs for Akito. He wants a new wardrobe. For what I'll never know! It's not like he leaves the house. Anywho, I'll phone you when I can make the time to see you and hopefully our schedules match. Ok ta ta! Hugs and kisses Tori!" click. Did Aaya even breathe, how could he talk so fast. Just hearing him made Hatori feel exhausted.

Hatori pulled open the top drawer of his desk and looked at the meds he had stored there, looking specifically at the bottles with Ayame's name on. He had better not leave it too long or it could cause trouble.

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A few days later Hatori was summoned to see Akito. It wasn't unusual; there _was_ a reason that he lived so close to him. Though, from the way he sounded on the phone, he was sure that it was nothing to do with his health.

As he reached Akito's door he noticed that it was shut, obviously he was seeing another Sohma at the moment. Soon the door slid open and a middle aged woman he didn't recognise walked past, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Hatori, come in."

As he entered he could see Akito sitting on a pile on cushions, leaning against a wooden pillar and looking frighteningly straight faced.

"What can I do for you Akito Sama?" Hatori asked, keeping his standing position near the door, just in case Akito needed his usual medicine from the other room.

"Do you have the snake's phone number?" he uttered the word 'snake' as though it left a bitter taste on his tongue.

"I do, yes."

"I wish for you to give him a message. Tell him that I request to see him urgently."

'Ah' Hatori thought, 'it must be about the wardrobe designs that he wanted'. "I'll do that right away Akito Sama. Is there anything else that you need?"

"I want you to spend the rest of the day with Yuki. I want to be sure that he is healthy living in that hovel. While you are at it, try and convince him to come back here where he belongs." He sniffed, looking out of the nearby window.

"Yes, but will you be alright on your own?"

"I wouldn't have sent you away if I thought I was going to bite the dust this afternoon, would i?" he snapped.

"Understood." Hatori pulled out his phone and texted Ayame the message as he walked back to his office. He said he would be back in town so he should be able to get to this meeting quickly. For a second, Hatori wondered why Akito couldn't let Ayame know himself, and then it hit him. Akito only kept his favourites within reach. Others that didn't matter as much or he openly despised, he tried to avoid as much as possible. That is, unless they had a useful skill that he could take advantage of. Therefore his contact with Ayame.

As he packed his medical gear and left the main Sohma house, Hatori hoped that Ayame didn't keep Akito waiting long. Despite his calm looking exterior, inside, Hatori could sense that he was on edge. Perhaps he was simply impatient today.

Whatever it was, Aaya had better be on his best behaviour. It didn't take much to get Akito angry, he knew that firsthand, and knowing what Aaya was like didn't make him feel any better.


	2. Chapter 2

Ayame stared at his hands, those pale hands that were currently trembling in his lap. The day had gone from bad to worse faster than a zodiac change. This morning he had been dumped by his once perfect boyfriend, via text message of all things. After spending what was to be their lunch date alone, he was feeling more than slightly downcast. As he had stared into his heavily sugared earl grey, hoping he could somehow drown in it, he received another curt text message, though this time it was from Hatori.

'Akito demands your presence for an urgent meeting. Hatori.'

That couldn't be good, Ayame sighed. He hadn't even had time to start on Akito's designs.

So there he was, trembling like a leaf while Akito took out his rage on him. At first he thought he was just some living thing for him to yell at, but it soon became apparent what he was rambling on about. Someone in the Sohma family (someone far too distant to consider of any importance) had seen him with his X in a romantic embrace and had taken it upon themselves to tell the head of the family.

He flinched as a chair landed a few feet away from where he was kneeling. Hatori and the others must be far enough away for them not to hear the commotion.

"How dare you think that can sneak your way out of the curse! It is your burden to bear also, how dare you slack off! I didn't think anyone would sink so low as to date someone of the same sex to get their kicks. How disgusting." He spat. "None of us deserve love, you more than others. Everyone knows that the cat is the worst of our kin, but the snake." He scoffed, "Well, it is the essence of pure evil in most forms of religion. You are dirt and, if I had a say, you wouldn't be a part of our family at all."

He simply couldn't help himself. "You're just jealous because I found a loophole in the curse. And anyway, I didn't just go to a man because I lacked options. I think that both genders are lovely and I would happily live my life with a man...at least I can bloody well get laid-" Ayame muttered under his breath. There were very few times in Akito's life that he had ever been stood up to, and there was a reason for that. Akito growled and swung his arm back; lashing it forwards in a furious display of anger. Akito's sharp nails came down deep on Ayame's left cheek, the side of his chin and down his neck.

Ayame screamed in agony, wanting to touch his hand to his face but knowing it would be further agony to do so. Besides, he didn't need to check for blood, he could see it dripping quite steadily onto the floor. He shouldn't have looked at all, as all it did was make him feel quite faint.

"How dare you speak to me in such a way!" Akito snarled, grasping Ayame by his long hair and tugging it upwards so that Ayame was kneeling again rather than slumped on his side.

"Ah!" Ayame gasped, trying to get his hair back from the vile man's claws and failing. Akito leant down and spat cruelly in his face, while Ayame winced as it stung his open wounds.

"You foul, pathetic creature." Akito's fierce snarl had turned into a sneer that sent chills up his spine. The shivers turned violent as Akito reached forwards and rubbed his fingernails into his wounds, smearing the blood over his face. It was too painful to scream. "Now…_no one_ will want you. Ha ha ha ha!" He laughed manically, dropping Ayame to the floor, while he spasmed with pain. He continued to laugh as he left the room, probably to wash his hands of the snake's foul blood.

Aaya wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't go to Hatori. If Akito wanted him to suffer he would have made Hatori refuse to give him treatment. He didn't want to bring the other family members into this; that would cause more trouble than it was worth and a hospital was out of the question. There were far too many females that he could bump into. He would have to walk home (hopefully he could hold it together before a transformation) and clean this mess up himself. He would have to sneak past Mine as well, he sighed to himself. She already knew the basic facts about the Sohma family but she didn't need to deal with this as well. Let's hope he could be quiet enough.

As he eased himself to his feet, leaning heavily on a wooden pillar he suddenly felt tears welling in his eyes and didn't have time to catch them before they ran down his face, stinging terribly in his open wounds. He felt crushed. Despite knowing that Akito lived of off insulting people, simply because he could, he knew that there was truth in his words. His only strength, his looks, had been maimed. His charisma only got him so far, now he had nothing left to give…Akito was right…nobody _would_ want him now.

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"Oh, Hatori! To what do I owe this pleasant visit?" Shigure asked leaning on the door frame as Hatori stepped out of his car.

"Akito wants me to check up on Yuki and convince him to come home…so I came for a cup of tea instead."

"I'll put the kettle on. I can't believe that Akito is still convinced that he'll return to the main house after the way he's been behaving." Shigure made his way into the kitchen and set about making the drinks whilst Hatori folded his jacket over the back of a chair.

"He usually gets his own way, that's why he's not giving up on this." Hatori rubbed at his eyes, easing away the day's tensions.

"That kinda day huh?" Shigure looked over his shoulder, catching Hatori's moment of weakness.

"Not really, I just _feel_ tired." He looked around the quiet house. "The kids' not here?" it was a lot more peaceful than it usually was. There was a definite lack of fighting boys and a bustling Tohru.

"No, Tohru and Yuki are in the garden and Kyo is probably hiding in a tree, jealously watching them from afar." Shigure said airily as he placed a cup in front of Hatori and one for himself opposite him.

"He never did know how to comunicate smoothly." Hatori sighed as he sipped the hot beverage. Shigure rested his elbows on the table, his head resting on his hands.

"A lot of Sohma's have problems in that area, I've noticed. For example, Ritsu doesn't understand when people are upset or disappointed with him or not. He presumes that they are like that all the time, and you," he gave Hatori a playful smack around the head. "You don't know when to loosen up. Relax, he's not here."

"Huh, who's not here?"

"Akito. I know that we are meant to respect him, but when you are under his total control all the time how can you do anything but fear him. It kind of makes me wonder what kind of person he would have been if there was no curse." Shigure stared at the opposite wall, trying to imagine a…well, an Akito that wasn't Akito.

"Too bad we won't ever know. We're all stuck with it I'm afraid." He said stiffly, returning to his tea whilst Shigure came back to earth.

"God…that sucks!"

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It took half an hour or more for Ayame to finally get home, after an additional five minutes to get up the stairs and he was beyond exhausted and on the verge of transforming. He sighed. Mine already knew about the Sohma curse and what it did to him, but he knew that she found it uncomfortable. Besides, every time she saw him like that, the more of a chance there was of Akito finding out, and after today Ayame planned on keeping as low to the ground as possible.

Unfortunately at this point he ended up falling asleep at the top of stairs, one of his legs a couple of steps down from the landing, leaning against the wall. The blood that had been dripping from his face had become tacky as the wind had dried it, though it hadn't quite stopped bleeding. He had lost a bit, how much, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he had ruined his clothes with all of the blood that had soaked into it. You didn't have to be a doctor to figure out that it was a bit.

He was dizzy and in a fair amount of pain, and the fading adrenaline didn't help. He was so out of it he didn't even notice the door to the shared apartment opening next to him.

"I could have sworn I heard something. God, I hope no ones in the store….Ayame!" She had finally seen him as she poked her head around the door. "Oh god! Wait here, I'll call an ambulance-"she went to go get the phone but Ayame would have none of it.

"Mine…no." He tried to sound emphatic but ended up just sounding drained.

"But you're…"She started, getting closer so that she could see the extent of the damage.

"No buts, I have to fix this myself." He said, trying to get to his feet. Mine saw his struggle and grabbed an arm to help.

"Nonsense, _I_ am going to help you."

So much for Mine not getting involved.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is your damn families fault, isn't it? God, what did they do, sic a tiger on you?"

"Heavens no, Kisa is far too sweet to do such a thing."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Let's just say that I spoke up when I should have shut up." Ayame hissed as he was helped into a chair, his head lolling slightly as things got a bit dark on the border of his vision.

"Aaya, don't pass out on me, ok? You can rest when we've got you cleaned up." In the time that he had been out of it, Mine had run off to get the first aid box, looking a bit at a loss as to where to start.

"You're going to need a bath but I'll patch you up first. Aaya, I think you're top is beyond repair, would you mind if I ditched it?"

"Whatever you need to do sweetie." Ayame said wearily. She was in on it now, no harm in continuing. With great care Mine unfastened his cheongsam, being extra careful around the neck where she noticed the wounds stretched further than she had originally thought. They were deep, but not deep enough to hit any main arteries. Even so, Ayame's pale face and unfocused eyes caused her a great deal of worry.

"What about your cousin doctor, can he help?"

"He works for the guy that did it." He said shakily, only now admitting to himself that it would be handy to have his skills right about now. Knowing he couldn't was upsetting.

She took that as a no. "Ok Aaya, this is gonna hurt." Mine had already prepared a cotton ball (which looked pathetically small compared to the size of the wound) that had antiseptic on it. She took a tentative step closer.

"Aren't you meant to say 'you're not going to feel a thing.'?" Ayame joked half-heartedly.

"Yeah-no." She was so close to touching the red gash with the offending ball, Ayame barely had any time to warn her.

"Mine wai-OH MY GOD That-hnn…doesn't hurt at all-"He managed to say through clenched teeth before, POOF!

"Ah! Shit Ayame." She panted, clutching her chest. "You could have warned me that you were going to do that. I can handle this and all but don't surprise me, ok?"

"Ow…Mine…it really hurts." He sniffed from his position on the floor, curled up inside his pants.

Her heart went out to the little guy. She knelt down next to him and tried to uncover him "Sorry! Um Ayame?" He raised his eyes to hers, slowly, so as not to frighten her, "… Now what do I do?" Ayame sighed; this had just gotten a lot more complicated.

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Hatori returned to the main house at around 7pm after he had decided to wait for Yuki. He would get in trouble if he didn't ask the usual questions.

"You doing ok here?" Yuki knew the drill.

"Everything's fine." He sighed.

"Want to return to the main house?" Hatori said whilst putting on his shoes.

"No, I'm good."

"Right then. I'll see you all later. Goodnight Tohru."

"It was nice to see you Hatori." She smiled.

"Keep out of mischief Shigure." He added sternly, giving his friend a particular look.

"Who me?" Shigure had his best puppy eyes on, whilst the boys looked disgusted. Hatori sighed, there would be no way for him to keep his sanity if he had to stay here all of the time, he was glad it was just a visit.

As he put his doctor's bag back in his office, he decided to check up on Akito. Even though he said he could have the afternoon off, he didn't say that Hatori could ignore him that night. He found him in his usual place, staring out of the window, though looking more tired than usual. The strangest thing about this image was that he had a slight sneer on his pale face. Something had obviously happened when he was out but he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the details.

"Ah, you're back. How was Yuki?" Akito asked croakily, startling Hatori a bit as he didn't realise that he had been noticed.

"The same as usual, he's not coming back."

"Pity." His eyes lowered before meeting Hatori's gaze. "I won't be needing you tonight if that is what you are wondering. Oh-but I just remembered." A cruel smile twisted his face. "Can you phone the snake tomorrow?"

"What would you like me to say?" Hatori said, feeling a little uneasy. Two phone calls so close together? Usually the two of them didn't interact at all. This was very unnerving.

"Tell him that his services are no longer required. I will get someone else to do the job for me. Besides, I doubt that he'll be able to do much at the moment anyway." He chuckled to himself.

Hatori left the room with a cold feeling deep in his gut.

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After much confusion and awkward fumbling, Mine had finally gotten Ayame cleaned up. It would have been so much easier if he had been able to stay human, but she knew that it couldn't be helped. After a few minutes the pain from the antiseptic began to fade and Ayame turned back, making Mine turn quite red around the ears.

"Um…here." She mumbled, handing Ayame a pair of his night trousers that were in the clean laundry pile. Ayame simply waved it away.

"Thanks anyway but now that I'm back I may as well try to wash off this icky grunge that's stuck all over me. Then I can rest properly."

"But I haven put the bandages on yet!"

"I won't be long. Mine, thank you so much."

"It's not a problem, but you realise that you still aren't wearing anything!?" The blush had now crept down her neck; Ayame thought it looked rather cute.

"Oops! I'll just go then."

Once settled in the nice warm bath, Ayame could feel his crappy day coming to a close-kind of. He knew that his wounds would scar and, even now, there was no way to go about his day without everyone noticing the bandages around his neck and the gauze stuck to half of his face. He would have to work out the back of the shop for a while.

"Oh Ayame? Your phone just went off." Mine said, coming into the bathroom holding the device in her small hand, trying not to look, despite the bubbles covering all of the important bits.

"Thanks Mine." He flipped in open and saw a message that made his blood boil.

'Babe, I was wrong to ditch you. I understand that you can be a little much but I understand now, it's just a part of who you are. Please take me back. Tamaki.'

Ayame clenched his teeth and typed back.

'Aw, poor sweetie! Did your fuck buddy die? So sorry, I don't date losers so FUCK-OFF-YOU-JERK!'

He blocked Tamaki's number and turned off his phone. He didn't need this right now; he was the bastard that practically started this shit. It took a bit of an effort not to start crying again, he didn't want to wreck the beautiful job Mine had done cleaning him up. Finally he was clean of blood and in his pyjama pants which Mine had brought with her when she took him the phone.

"You ready for the fiddly stuff?" she asked, there was bits and pieces all over the table; it looked as though she wasn't sure what to use.

"Yes Dr Mine." And he sat back down so that she could get to work. It stung to have his wounds touched but he knew that it was the right thing to do. There was less chance of bugs contaminating it and blood getting everywhere if it was covered up. First Mine put butterfly stitches over the cuts to help keep everything together, (she figured it wouldn't hurt either way) and then proceeded to wrap him. Ayame was right, ten minutes later, he looked like a mummy. It made him feel itchy and his face look puffy, but that could just have been the swelling.

"Do you think it will be alright?" Mine asked, checking to make sure that everything was stuck down properly before handing him two painkillers. God, he should have had those earlier, he thought to himself, resisting the urge to face palm.

"It should be fine. I will need to go and get more medication and stuff tomorrow. I think that that was the last of the bandages and gauze."

"We're also out of antiseptic." Mine added. "Are you sure you don't want me to go?"

"No, you stay with the shop. It will be my last trip out of the store for a while; I don't want the rest of the family to see me like this. After that I'm afraid I might have to leave shopping duty to you for the time being." He said, feeling guilty that he was putting more responsibilities onto her small shoulders.

"No, I agree, you need to rest and recover." She paused whilst Ayame yawned, both of them wincing as he did as it tugged at the bandages. He looked beat. "I think you should go to bed now, I'll clean up before I turn in, oh and don't forget to keep your fluids up." She said, handing him a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Thank you, you've been such a dear…I'd hug you but…" he said, taking the water bottle from her, letting his fingers touch hers in a reassuring way.

"No, it's ok. Don't worry about it, I totally get it." Mine smiled

His bed had never felt so soft and his eyes started to drift shut before he had time to turn off his lamp. POOF! There lay Ayame, curled up in the middle of his squishy bed looking a little worse for wear, a small mess of white scales and medical gauze. His sleep was restless, filled with dreams of torture, a cackling Akito and the disgusted looks of his family… his friends.

Mine walked in soon after he had fallen asleep to turn off the lamp on his bedside table, and was not surprised to see Ayame in his snake form, a single tear falling from his closed eyes.


End file.
